Staff Reports
A large diesel leak at Equinix’s NY2 data center in Secaucus dumped roughly a small tanker‑truck’s worth of fuel into Anderson Creek, a tributary that feeds the Hackensack River. The spill set off a messy cleanup, reopened the debate about booming data‑center growth in New Jersey, and left locals asking how a facility designed to power the internet could so badly fail at basic fuel safety.
What happened at the Secaucus data center
Operations detected a fuel release from an outdoor storage tank on the evening of September 11, and officials estimate about 5,000 gallons of No. 2 diesel were released. Crews say the leak was stopped and a large portion of the fuel was recovered, but some diesel entered Anderson Creek in the Hackensack Meadowlands. Bill Sheehan, executive director of Hackensack Riverkeeper, summed up the increasingly surreal local chatter when he said, “The computer was calling for oil.” Mayor Michael Gonnelli called the incident “something that should never have happened.”
Cleanup, containment and who’s in charge
Equinix hired Clean Harbors and reported stopping the leak quickly. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is overseeing the remediation work and crews used booms, vacuum trucks, and absorbent materials to recover fuel — local officials said thousands of gallons were recovered during initial response. So far officials report no impact to the main stem of the Hackensack River, no known drinking‑water threats, and no confirmed wildlife casualties, though monitoring continues.
Why diesel is even sitting next to servers
Back‑up diesel fuel is standard at large data centers because generators must keep servers alive during power outages. That makes storage tanks a normal part of the site footprint, but it also means risks when tanks, piping or control systems fail. Anderson Creek runs through sensitive Meadowlands wetlands, so any fuel leak there deserves serious concern and thorough testing. At the same time, the industry supplies critical services that power commerce and emergency systems — a blunt ban is not the only answer.
Common‑sense answers, not political theater
This spill should be a wake‑up call. Equinix must finish cleanup, publish a transparent incident report, and face enforcement if the NJDEP finds negligence. Regulators should demand hard fixes to fuel‑management systems and fail‑safes for automation — if that “computer glitch” story checks out, the fix should be a priority. And for those calling for blanket moratoria on data centers: be careful what you wish for. Data centers are part of critical infrastructure, and shuttering them without smarter rules would throw supply chains and tech services under the bus. Hold polluters and operators accountable, strengthen oversight where needed, and stop turning every industrial accident into instant political theater.
